BIR Commends Joint Declaration on Solutions for Marine Litter

Following a press release issued by PlasticsEurope, the European association of plastics manufacturers, BIR commends the initiative the European plastics industry has taken in order to achieve a joint action with regards to the problem of the pollution of marine life through plastics litter.

The Declaration, which was signed by major plastics industry organisations around the world, is said to outline a set of clear objectives for industry action, and advocates close cooperation with a broad range of stakeholders to achieve substantial progress in reducing damage to the marine environment.

In a letter to Jacques van Rijckevorsel, President of PlasticsEurope, BIR Director General Francis Veys congratulates the European plastics industry to play a “catalyst role” for concrete actions that aim at the reduction of plastics debris in the world oceans.

As a matter of fact, BIR had sponsored the international initiative “Project Kaisei” in 2009, which had precisely the mission to detect and find solutions for the marine debris accumulating in the North Pacific Gyre. At BIR’s World Recycling Convention 2010 in Istanbul, one of the co-founders of the project, Doug Woodring, gave a detailed presentation on the problematic of plastics marine debris and on the importance to address this matter urgently by governments and industry alike.